Why Choose UltimateDefrag & Other Defrag Questions

There are about 15 other Defrag products in the marketplace
why should I choose UltimateDefrag?

Yes, there are a number of defraggers out there - they all defrag just fine. The problem is that they are only "defraggers" and defraggers are a dime-a-dozen. There's even a number of completely free ones out there including the free one that comes with Windows. Only UltimateDefrag (and one other product - to an extent) focuses on hard drive file placement optimization. It's not just theory - it actually works and you do actually experience the performance increase while you are using your computer.

File fragmentation, as we have stated in our main information page, is only a minor part of the hard drive performance equation. There is no point in having no fragmented files if those files are scattered all around disk. All that that speeds up (and only to a small extent) is the access of the particular file of interest. There really is no noticeable overall performance increase - especially if the file of interest is on a slower part of your drive.

The keys to improving hard drive performance are:

1.     Eliminate fragmentation

2.     Minimize seek and access times.

3.     Confining your most often used files to the faster performing areas of your drive (the outer tracks)

These three important performance promoting items are what UltimateDefrag achieves. The incremental improvements achieved by each key item actually multiply the effect i.e. greater than the sum of the parts.

If item 1 improves performance by 20%, Item 2 is improved by 50% and item 3 by 50% then the sum overall improvement is (1.20 x 1.50 x 1.50)-1 = 170%. Hard drive performance gain in this instance is 170%. The reality is that item 2 (access times) can actually be improved by well over 100% i.e. access times can be more than halved. If we run the equation again (1.20 X 2.00 X 1.50)-1 = 260%. This is actually worst case. We believe that average access times can be improved by 300% or more by the seek confinement achieved by "archiving" unused data to the inner tracks of your drive. if you punch 300% into the equation - overall performance gain is 440%.

UltimateDefrag uses these principles to vastly improve performance of your entire system, right from the time the Windows logo appears after you hit the ON button on your PC.

On top of that the power comes in what UltimateDefrag can do. If all you want is a basic consolidate defrag then UltimateDefrag can do that too - and faster due to our clever defrag algorithms that only move "fragmented" data and not the complete files. It's called "In-Place" defragging! Our Consolidate Defrag is a one-pass full consolidation defrag and "In-Place" defragging results in UltimateDefrag being able to defrag with as little as 1 to 3% of free disk space. The Windows Default defragger requires 15%. A basic consolidation defrag is actually much more complex than it seems. Tens (even hundreds) of thousands of files, thousands of gaps to fill and to leave NO free space between each file.... Using in-place defragging and a complex (and very clever) algorithm, UltimateDefrag fills all the gaps and consolidates your files with the "minimal" file and overall data movement necessary to achieve the end goal - zero file fragmentation and zero free space fragmentation - again, all in one pass. It's very interesting to watch it at work!

Then, in the event that you wanted to venture into full-blown drive optimization, you also get another 32 Defrag combinations. The capability to perform any defragging technique you ever wanted to is all there (with even more coming soon) in UltimateDefrag. You can, as we say, Defrag and Optimize Your Hard Drive - Any Way You Want To!

So if you want the best of basic defragging - choose UltimateDefrag and if you want all the defragging and drive optimization power you could ever ask for - choose UltimateDefrag!

Please also see this FAQ for a utility that can you use to measure some of our performance claims for yourself.

Does UltimateDefrag Perform Defragmentation On-The-Fly?

In short - no it doesn't and that's for a good reason. On-The-Fly defragmentation is a great concept, but it is not recommended in a practical environment. You are defragging for one thing and one thing only - performance. No defragger - while it is "defragging on the fly" instantly stops the process and lets go of the file it was defragging. The milliseconds (or seconds in some instances) that a defrag-on-the-fly takes to stop is the milliseconds or seconds you are striving to achieve. The purpose of an on-the-fly defrag is redundant.

Also if you are running large databases - even small changes to the database will, more often than not, result in some degree of fragmentation. If you have 10 users of that database constantly competing with the defragger for file access - again - the objective is lost. Even though defragging is 100% safe, we don't recommend allowing any scenario where 10 users may be "competing" for file access with a defrag routine.

For these reasons, and many more, our philosophy of defragging is that it is something that should be done - on demand by the user, or as a scheduled task while you are not using your computer. The last thing you want to be doing when you want fast performance is competing with an on-the-fly defragger.

I Am Using UltimateDefrag And Even Though My Hard Drive Hasn't Accessed a File For A Few minutes, My Computer Response Is Instant Next Time I Launch A Program. Why?

The answer to this lies in the answer to "Where Does My Hard Drive Head Rest After It Has Accessed A File?". It's a question you've probably never asked. The answer to this is that generally your hard drive read/write heads rest at the last place from where they read or wrote a file.

As a result of UltimateDefrag's file optimization, your hard drive heads pretty much come to rest on those outer tracks - usually at a distance confined to within 5% of the radius of your drive platters. So when you go to access a file after a file hasn't been access for a while that initial seek is just 1 to 3 milliseconds compared with up to 20 milliseconds. Tiny numbers, yes, but the 1 to 3 milliseconds is far less than 20 milliseconds and therefore the instant response is preceived.

Of course when your computer is turned off or hard drives turned off by Windows Power saving options, your heads are parked "off" the platters to protect your data.

Isn't Defragging Waste Of Precious Time?

Well some people, including the makers of this product, can sit in front of a computer and, especially with our disk display, hypnotically watch a defrag for hours on end and they'll tell you it's the best entertainment around.

On a more serious note, if you schedule your defrags for times that you are not using your computer, then you've always got a nicely performing system at your fingertips - all of the time. A regular scheduled consolidate defrag with archiving only takes between 2 and 15 minutes (depending upon the amount of data on your drive) on a day-to-basis. If you just defrag your fragmented files on a daily basis without the consolidation (packing them all together), our "fragmented files only" routine is fast and usually done in less than 30 to 60 seconds.

You should defrag and optimize your hard drive for the same reasons that you tune your car. So you have an optimum running system - all of the time.

Ultimately, defragging with UltimateDefrag reduces wear and tear on your hard drives, saves time and gives you a more pleasurable computing experience due to the increased performance of your system.

So When And How Often Should I Defrag?

When it comes to hard drives, entropy is alive and well - to be read as - hard drives tend to move towards a state of disorder and fragmentation. The rate at which this occurs is directly proportional to the number of "writes" to you hard drive - this includes saving of existing files or adding new files. The more new files you add to your computer e.g. new program installations or images or the more that you "save" a file e.g. a document, a spreadsheet - the faster fragmentation builds.

UltimateDefrag gives you the utmost power and flexibility but that doesn't mean that you need to perform a comprehensive defrag every day. That would be "over-defragging". If you want to use a comprehensive defrag which orders files one by one then we suggest that you do it either monthly or even weekly. The beauty of the fast archiving feature means that if you do a comprehensive defrag you actually are only working with about 20% of the files on your drive so comprehensive defrags can be run more often.

We do suggest however that on a daily basis you do a "maintenance" defrag. This only needs to be a Consolidate Defrag or a Fragmented Files Only defrag. These only take minutes with UltimateDefrag.

Other times that you should definitely defrag is when you:

1.     Install a new program - as soon as you install any new program fragmentation occurs immediately. The bigger the program the more significant the fragmentation. For example one of the latest simulations, Microsoft Flight Simulator installs upwards of 42,000 files. After installation is complete (even on a defragged drive) 22,500 of those files are fragmented - right from the word go the program is doomed to give you significantly reduced performance. So always, when you install a new program, run a quick defrag - Fragmented Files Only is fine - when you are ready at a later stage you can set the program up for High Performance if performance is critical to you for that particular program. 
 

2.     Save or copy a group of new files to your PC such as images from your digital camera, or when you rip a CD or any other time you are saving a bunch of new files. Fragmentation occurs fast.

Again, UltimateDefrag lets you perform simple fast defrags or fully optimized strategic file placement - so you can use it how you want to.

Does UltimateDefrag Utilize the Windows Layout.ini file?

In version 1.32, we implemented support for the Layout.ini file. This is an option within the program. Optimizing according to the layout.ini file enhances boot and application prefetching. If you want to see the kind of performance your system is capable of, then try a defrag with this option selected then restart your machine. You'll see what we mean. For more information on this , please follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/benchmark.mspx

Does UltimateDefrag Defrag My Registry Files?

Absolutely, and if you select the option to respect the layout.ini file, UltimateDefrag will place your registry files in the best position possible for fastest perfromance on your drive. Right at the beginning of your drive - just after your main boot files.

I've Only Briefly Looked At UltimateDefrag So Far - It Looks Far Too Simplistic To Be Able To Do What It Claims.

That's the cleverness of UltimateDefrag. It's one of those programs that the more you use and explore it, the more you sense and realize its power. Virtually everything you would ever want to do as far as defragging and file optimizing is right there at the user interface. Ponder on it a little as you use it. You'll feel and realize the power at your disposal. And we do want to say it again - all in a program only 972 Kb in size! And please don't think it's going to stop here. We are going to add even more power to this apparently "simplistic" program with new features and updates, that give you even more power and flexibility, released regularly.

Does UltimateDefrag Work With Windows Vista?

Yes it does and all the principals of performance promotion that UltimateDefrag offers you still apply to Windows Vista!

Incidentally Windows Vista has a defragger that is actually even further "dumbed" down from the  Windows XP defragger and does not provide any kind of graphic display.

Choose UltimateDefrag as the defragger to enhance your Windows Vista performance.

What Single Defrag Method Gives Me Fastest Overall Hard Drive Performance?

A lot of people ask this question and UltimateDefrag is the only product in the world that will enable you to do it. There is no other known method to layout your files for the fastest hard drive performance possible.

1.      Select files that you rarely use (last accessed say - 30 days or 60 days or greater) and archive them i.e. bring them to the center (slower performing part) of the drive. This will stop this data from competing for seek travel with the most important data.

2.      Consolidate your directories alphabetically and place them right next to your MFT. This will vastly improve speed of MFT/Directory seeks and transactions.

3.      Respect Layout.ini - this will exhaustively layout all files according to the Windows XP OptimalFileLayout (based upon program launch patterns) and place them to the very beginning and very outer tracks of your system drive. This will place files in the fastest performing areas of your drive and minimize seeks for sequentially accessed files.

4.      With all these options taken into account - then perform a Folder/Filename Defrag. This will place remaining files for each folder and program right to the outer tracks for maximum transfer rates and minimize seek times for data file access for those folders.

Be aware that this could take some time depending upon the amount of data on your hard drive. It could take between 1 and 6 hours. It's not something you want to do everyday - once a month is fine followed by weekly or daily consolidate defrags using 1, 2 & 3 above - with step 4 replaced by Consolidate Method.

This is the fastest that you will ever experience your hard drive and overall system perform.

We will soon be publishing the performance results of this defrag method compared to any other.